Problems he had in his 20s help mold Grizzlies assistant

Jun. 14, 2014

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Entitlement has never been a weakness for Shawn Respert. His life and career have rarely allowed for it.

That’s served him well in coaching. It’s allowed for a sometimes humbling career to grow.

Respert, Michigan State’s star of the mid-1990s and the school’s all-time leading scorer, just finished his first season as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, after six years split between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets.

But his second career didn’t begin with prestige or private charter jets.

Respert broke into coaching as a volunteer at Prairie View A&M in 2003-04, then at Rice University for three seasons as the Owls’ director of operations — a gig that can be a thankless logistical and analytical grind.

That’s when he knew he had the coaching bug.

“When I could do those jobs and not feel like it was below my level,” Respert said. “The big question mark about a lot of former players — are they willing to work as hard as the regular coaches who had to come in and earn their spot? I realized that, this isn’t work. If this is normal getting your hands dirty, I’m fine. That’s what I do.”

At 42 years old, Respert has lived an interesting basketball existence — unheralded high school recruit, college superstardom, NBA disappointment. His playing career was rocked by stomach cancer, before fizzling out well short of expectations when the Portland Trailblazers made him the No. 8 overall pick and shipped him to Milwaukee on draft day in 1995. He was out of the NBA after four years, and played four more overseas.

As Respert builds his second act, there is no bitterness. The trials he faced in his 20s and his ordinary coaching beginnings have made the Detroit native more well-rounded in his profession, ahead of the curve with analytical film study, he said, and able to truly listen and reach players who need to be reached.

“I’m so much more compassionate about the guys now,” said Respert, who made it clear he can still hold his own with them on the court, too. “When they just need a little bit of a nudge or a pat on the back, that I’m more aware of that now. Not just going in the gym and shooting baskets, or doing basketball stuff. I think about whether a guy’s head is in the right place.”

“All of us, as we go through life, there are certain points you just want someone to be there and ask if everything is OK.”

Respert didn’t have that person — other than former MSU teammate Eric Snow.

“What was a 23-year-old supposed to do?” Respert said of Snow. “He didn’t know anything either. We were just two dummies looking at each other. ‘Am I going to die?’ ‘I don’t know.’

“If somebody had truly been there to say, ‘Is everything alright? What’s wrong?’ Would have that made a difference? Hell yeah. But I didn’t feel comfortable with anybody at that time.”

Respert has been healthy since, his playing career the only aspect of his life hindered.

By 2007, he’d been hired as director of player development for the NBA’s Development League, working out of the league offices in New York, before holding similar titles with the Rockets and Timberwolves.

“When I got to Minnesota is when I got the opportunity to grow and do more coaching duties, like being involved in practice and involved in game planning,” said Respert, who said his reputation as a player development coach has been a blessing, but also limiting.

In Memphis, his opinion is valued, on everything.

“He has a tremendous feel for the game,” said Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger, who also has a D-League background. “He’s extremely loyal. I want to hear what he thinks.”

Respert wants to be a head coach some day, be it in the NBA or college. But not until he’s ready. His focus isn’t career advancement as much as it is career development.

In Houston, for example, he worked mostly on honing the Rockets’ offense. So when he arrived in Minnesota, he switched to defense.

“Then I got to Memphis, and after five years of doing it that way, it helped mentally with confidence, knowing I could break down film and give some quality examples and statistics to a player,” said Respert, who still resides in Houston in the offseason, with his wife and two teenage children. “You really just corner players with your IQ, with your experience, and with proof and evidence. You put them in a position where they have to be OK with it. And because of the relationship you have with them, you’re not going to have a guy become defensive.”

Respert wants to advance based on his work and relationships — not antics.

“I don’t want to be that dude, jumping up and down (on the sideline) just so somebody can see you,” he said.

But he wouldn’t mind one day coming home to Michigan.

“If home picks up the phone and says we’d love to have you back, great,” Respert said.

“But that’s not what I base every day on, getting out of bed and going to work — ‘Oh, man, I wonder why they don’t call.’ I don’t expect them to. I expect to go out and find my way and make something happen with all the other opportunities in the world. If it’s meant to be, it will happen. If coach calls and feels like he’s got to help me out because I have nowhere else to go, I haven’t done a good job.”